A Crummy Commercial

I rechecked the QRP Popcorn blog and sadly it still is gone, previous mention: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/08/qrp-popcorn-blog-videos-gone.html Here is the previous mention of Bunker of Doom: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/08/bunker-of-doom-doomed.html However today I also rechecked Bunker of Doom, it is back, nice ! is that cat sneering ?  :) https://bunkerofdoom.com/ Oh me of little faith - sometimes there is good news on the internet. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm 

I took another gander at the items I bought yesterday: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/10/just-because-i-could.html One item caught my eye: a little blurry, will take another picture once it arrives I've mentioned this VFO before in passing: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/09/ltc1799-rc-oscillator-chip.html Here is the drift chart of the LTC1799 left out of the earlier blog post: delta F in Hz on Y axis, time from cold start on X axis, frequency about 6.58 MHz I also did a web search and found this posting from qrp-tech: https://groups.io/g/qrp-tech/topic/ltc1799_oscillator_chip/6472173 Lots of hams have considered this chip and found it wanting but apparently it is used by our fellow travelers, electronic musicians: https://www.circuitbenders.co.uk/tutorials/LTCinstallation1.html https://www.modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4069760 One thing that I hadn't considered originally is that possibly Linear Tech wanted the output to warble ? the reason: it's a technique to...

I bought an assortment of electronic junk on Ebay, AGAIN, here was the first time: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/03/march-madness.html Same seller, this assortment was a little more expensive at $26.38.  But I noticed two things in this photo that might make that extra money worthwhile: The first was the AADE LC Meter II/B.   This is a very well reviewed LC meter from Neil Heckt at Almost All Digital Electronics.  Sadly Neil has passed away so these LC meters aren't available anymore although people do clone them: https://electronicsprojectsandparts.blogspot.com/2013/06/lc-meter.html Neil was a published author and worked at Boeing, I noticed this AGC design from Electronics Designer's Casebook 2 : source:  https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Electronics/Electronics-Designer's-Casebook-2.pdf The LC meter first came to my notice in Electronics Now magazine, June 1996: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Electronics/90s/1996/EN-1996-06.pdf The shi...

I saw this latest fun blog post by Marxy: https://blog.marxy.org/2025/09/arduino-controlled-useless-box.html   Of course he would add an Arduino to the concept, he's a ham ;) Here's the wiki on the useless machine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useless_machine   These wooden useless boxes are on Ebay but I think I can resist the temptation to get one.  I do remember something similar from the Johnson-Smith catalog (mentioned previously): https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-johnson-smith-catalog.html  But I looked in the available Johnson-Smith catalogs on Archive.org => didn't find it.  I did find this: a bank that kind of does the same thing, the coin must act as a switch, the hand comes out and takes the coin - it's similar. I also saw this: I have one of these around here somewhere - I used to use it on my mailbox alarm, the onboard SCR was in effect a latched switch, once the mailbox was opened the alarm kept on until I came out and reset it.  So...

This Lenovo Laptop doesn't really have the oomph to run a photo program like GIMP.  So I was looking in a plastic bag on top of the Canon scanner when I saw this CDROM:   (this is the same CDROM on archive.org): https://archive.org/details/elements_202402 Photoshop Elements !  a relatively "light-weight" photo editor from the Windows 98 days.  It was bundled with the Canon scanner I have.  I always liked Photoshop Elements, particularly the "auto levels" which made it easy to pep up a photo without a lot of fuss. So I tried to install the CDROM on this Lenovo laptop and it came back with an error message: I don't think that Internet Explorer is even available now. I also have a Nikon flatbed scanner which came bundled with a version of Photoshop called Photoshop LE - but I can't find the CDROM for that one.  I found an ISO image for Photoshop LE 4.0 on archive.org but it wouldn't install in Windows 11 :( Nothing is easy anymore :( Update: apparently ...

I found this home made lightbox - something my Dad whipped up for my Mom.  It was meant for tracing - used in art projects.  It's just a cardboard box with a small fluorescent fixture inside, fixture was probably for under kitchen cabinets.  There's a clear plastic top.  It's all held together with the handyman's secret weapon: duct tape, see: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2022/10/my-3-favorite-red-green-videos.html  I think the pontoon boat may be the only time on the show where duct tape was used on ducts ! But I might use it for a different purpose than tracing.  I have a lot of black and white negatives which I've never printed and am unlikely to ever print.  I've seen videos where a camera is used to take a picture of a negative and through the magic of Photoshop or similar software, the negative becomes a positive.  I can do this on my old Canon scanner but it takes forever and will only do 35 mm film (or slides).  I also have roll film n...

It was a nice day today so I went over to my storage and got this: What is it ?  Here is is on the particle board base: Finally here with the camera installed: It's my old Testrite Enlarger with the Enlarger head taken off and replaced with the camera rod - a nice parallelogram copy stand.  I mentioned the Testrite before: https://wb9kzy.blogspot.com/2025/09/this-isnt-true-need-maybe-more-like-wish.html  It's nice and sturdy but too large and unwieldy for the electronics bench - it really needs a bench of it's own.   Here are a couple of photos, the first a receipt from Testrite for some accessories: RUSH ! The second is an overlay that I used to make my own photo QSLs.  I still have a box of postcard paper but I'm sure that by this time it's all fogged. This copy stand should be really useful. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm